7

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The soope a£ the work

/•The thesis presented here is entitled ’Chittoor Through

t

The Ages1* It is proposed to delineate here the history of

Chittoor in all its aspects from early traceable historic times
down to 1600 A.D. (Besides an account of the political
vicissitudes of the district,7^ also includes a survey of
administrative systems, economic conditions, society, religions,
art and architecture,^

The scope of the thesis extends over the region around

/ Chittoor which has played a prominent role in the history of
South India throughout: the historical period. Situated in a
strategic position flanked by the Kannada and the Tamil )
/

\ regions, the region provides good material in all the three

languages Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. Places like Tirupati,
Ka].ahasti and Chandragiri of this region are well-known. There
are many others which in different periods of history have
played the role of capitals or provincial headquarters (like
Chippili and Narayar'avanam respectively). Many feudatory
?
dynasties governed different territories in this region. It
Is for this reason that this region has been selected for a
detailed study.

It must be said that all these years much work has been
 8

done on the dynastic history of South India. Many major dynasties

like the Pailavas, Chalukyas of Vatapi, Kadambas, Rashtraku|:as,
Cholas, Chalukyas of Kalyana, Pipflyas, Hoysa|.as, Sennas and
Vijayanagara ruled over Peninsular India from early times till
the 16th century. They have contributed much to the political,
social and cultural growth of South India. Considerable research
work has been done regarding the history of most of these
dynasties in addition to their being treated in general works
on the history of South India. But the minor feudatory dynasties
which also contributed much to the cultural growth of our Ij
country have not so much attracted the attention of scholars,
though some material is published here and there on only some
families such as the Bapas, No^ambas, Chalukyas of Vemulavaga,
Telugu-cborias, Tadavarayas, etc. Much less has been the study
of different regions which in their own way made significant
contribution to the history of our country. This will help us
to know and assess the contributions made by the different *
regions to the growth of South Indian culture as a whole. It
is from this point of view also that the Chittoor region has
been taken up for study, '

/ The region under study largely covers the present day

Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh bounded by the Nellore district
for its major part on the east* by the Chingleput, Dharmapuri
and Morth-Arcot districts of Tamilnadu on the south and south*
west; by the Bangalore and Eolar districts of Karnataka on the
west and Anantapur, Cuddapah districts on the north. It is,

t
 9

however, to be noted that the study cannot strictly be confined

to the modern boundaries
„ /
of the district since the area governed
by different feudatory families and demarcation of the geogra­
phical units varied in different periods. As such, to make
the study complete, the areas adjacent to the present district* V*

have also been included within the scope of the present study.

The middle part in this district is referred to as the

/ Tengadam region in Ahanafltapu. a Sangan anthology of the early
centuries off the Christian era. As early as in the middle of
2nd century A.D., Ptolemy, the Greek geographer, referred to
this region by name of Aruvanoi. Fiom about the second quarter
of the seventh century to about the end of the 9th century this '
region was under minor ruling families, such as those of the
/ Renangu-Cholas, the Vhidumbas and the Bapas. During this period,
the western region of this district was included in the ancient
divisions of Renin$u-7000 and Vaflugavali-megku or Varlugavaiiyin-
/ paduva and Manneyin-mu$a and Puli-nagu. Sven when under the
hegemony of the Cho|.as, the territorial bounds of the Pulinaflu
had come to be adjusted, the area itself being called by t
Perumbinappagi and thus included in either of the major terri­
torial divisions Jayangonflaso^a-mangalam and Ba$$apadikon$aso].a-
mariflalam. We do get reference to the north-western areas being
included in' a bigger territorial division called Penugopga-
marjavafla from the Vijayanagara records of the Madanapalle taluk.
\

The Punganur territory also is said to have been in the division

 !

called Mu].ava3r-rajya in the Vijayanagara inscriptions. The

inscriptions of the other areas attest to the inclusion of a
_ major portion of the district in the division of Chandragiri-
rajya during the later Vijayanagar times.

»An interesting feature of this region is that it exhibits

the influence of three different languages because of its
situation in the immediate neighbourhood of the Tamil and
» *» i

Kannaga regions. Por example, the Western Gangas extended

their sway over the parts of this area as a consequence of
which a considerable Kannada population came and settled here. 4
This is testified by a good number of Kannada inscriptions in
the Punganur-Madanapalle regions of this district. Such is
the case with the Banas whose inscriptions in Kannada are i

available in the region of Punganur. Since a major area of the

district was a part of the Pallava, Ch51s kingdoms, the
availability of Tamil records is only natural.
i

v Because of its geographical situation it was inevitable

that this region came under the Influence of the major dynasties
of the south. During the early period of history, from the
' 4th to the 9th centuries, almost the whole of the district was
under the Pallavas. It then passed into the hands of their
i

successors, the Cholas, some portions in the west being ceded

to the Rashjrakutas. Then came the later Pinflyas and Vijaya-
riagara rulers successively under whom this region gained greater
prominence.
 Before the 11th century feudatory families such as the
Vaidumbas, the Bauias, the Gangas and the No^ambas played their
i

effective role in shaping the local events.

t
But these feuda-
tories were mostly active In the western areas. The picture
reversed in the later centuries when we find the Yadavarayas
and the Telugu-Cbo^as in the eastern parts being more active.
In the 11th-13th centuries, the eastern part of the district
''was under the control of the Irungola, Uttama-Cho}.a-Ganga,
Adigaiman and Slyaganga chiefs*

• A comprehensive study of the feudatory families of the

Chlttoor region has not so far been attempted by any scholar,
though savants like Krishnaswami Ayyangar, Sadhu Subrahmanya
Sastri, Vriddhagirisan, Yeeraraghavaehariar, Venkataramayya,
Yashodadevi and Rama Rao have treated some individual families
and places of historical significance. Hence in the present
thesis places like Tirumala-Tirupati have not come into the
purview.

The political scene kept on changing throughout the

period under study because of the changes in the imperial
dynasties. But the social and religious institutions continued
,to flourish unabated, art and architecture received impetus and
language and literature developed. An attempt is made here to
study all these aspects so far as this region is concerned
utilizing all the available material.
 12

Chapter two deals with the source material wherein the

nature and value of different types of sources are assessed
and some important inscriptions of special significance to
our study are reviewed.

The third chapter tries to trace the antiquity of the

*- i

region and describes the conditions of the Sangam age and

under the Satavahanas and the early Pallavas.

The political history of the region under the successive

dynasties like the Pallavas of the Simhavlshpu line, the
Cho].as, the Pangyas and the Vijayanagara rulers and their
j

feudatory families, the Renapgu Cfao^as, Valdumbas, Banas,

Western Gangas, Kb^ambas, Irungolas, iSdavarayas, Telugu-Cho^as
UttaraacboJ.a-Gangas, Adigaiman and Slyaganga chiefs is dealt
with in the next three chapters (i„&., Chapters IV, V and VI).

Chapter seven deals with the features of administration

from the chronological and dynastic' points of view and an
attempt is made here to assess the economic conditions of the
region.

The growth of social and religious institutions, eplgra-

pbieal language and literature is dealt with in chapter eight.

The last chapter contains a study of the development of

art and architecture. A few typical temples are selected for
detailed study.
 \

The appendix contains the texts and summaries of some

important inscriptions bearing on the study.